But Mount Carmel’s sophomore goalkeeper had never attempted to take one until Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal against Jacksonville.

Valencia masked the unease he felt and drilled his shot past goalkeeper Grant Flynn in the ninth round of the shootout. That turned out to be the game-winner after Jacksonville’s Zack Belford first was stopped, then hit the crossbar after he was given another try by the official. It gave the Caravan an 8-7 victory after the teams played 100 minutes of regulation and overtime which ended in a 1-1 tie.

Mount Carmel (19-3-1) will play Latin (23-3-0) for the state championship at 1 p.m. Saturday in an all-Chicago matchup of first-time finalists.

“That was pretty awesome,” Valencia said. “I was kind of nervous because that was my first time shooting in a PK shootout.

“I just picked the lower left side, and I blocked everything out, the noise and everything, and just concentrated on the shot.”

Valencia, who ironically did not make a save during the run of play, had stopped one or Jacksonville’s first eight shooters.

He thought he had ended the game in dramatic fashion when he lunged to his right to save Belford’s first attempt.

Valencia and his teammates were already celebrating when the referee called him back onto the field, ruling that Valencia had moved off his line too early. That gave Belford a second chance.

“The referee told me I was two steps off the line,” Valencia said. “I did come out a little.

“That felt really bad because I kind of wanted to win it right there because what if they score? We could have lost. But good thing he missed.”

Even if Belford hadn’t missed, Valencia’s teammates would not have blamed him.

“He’s such a good goalie,” Mount Carmel junior Cesar Cosio said. “He’s kept us in the game for so many times.”

Indeed, Valencia had saved the day earlier in the shootout after the Caravan’s best player, Jordan Ash, missed the opening penalty kick.

Jacksonville’s fifth shooter, Jack Racey, had a chance to win it for the Crimsons (21-5-0), but Valencia dove to his right to send the shootout into an extra session.

“Sergio came up really, really big right there,” Ash said. “It meant a lot for Sergio to step up like that.”

Ash was shocked when his attempt sailed over the crossbar.

“It’s the worst feeling to have,” Ash said. “I’m normally pretty reliable on my penalty kicks. I feel like the team is confident that I will score.

“For me to miss, I don’t know what happened. I lost focus. I wanted another chance to redeem myself.”

Ash didn’t need to worry -- his teammates had his back. The Caravan made their final eight kicks, with Salvador Valencia, Cosio, Jaylen Anderson, Manuel Cerritos, Giovanni Vargas, Axel Gongora, James Flowers and finally Sergio Valencia all connecting.

“We all play hard, and we fight hard,” Albers said. “It just comes down to tactics and sometimes the ball doesn’t roll you way. It’s just unfortunate.”

Albers had given the Crimsons new life when he tied the game on his 38th goal with 12:02 left in the second half. McCombs got the assist by sending a high-bouncing ball to the top of the box, where Albers settled and shot it.

“We’re a second half team,” Albers said. “We know we can come back, and we did.

“We went to overtime, and we’re used to that, and it just didn’t go our way this time. It happens.”

This was Jacksonville’s fourth overtime game of the playoffs and the Crimsons were happy to go to extra time after Mount Carmel outshot them 12-3 in regulation.

The Caravan grabbed a 1-0 lead with 9.3 seconds left in the first half when Casio scored off an assist from Ash.

Vargas triggered the play by sending a 36-yard free-kick diagonally across the field into the right side of the box to Ash, who trapped the ball with his chest and slid a pass into the middle to Cosio, who rifled an eight-yard shot past Flynn for his 19th goal of the season.

“I just try to get in the right spot,” Cosio said. “I love my teammates. Everyone is good on the team, and they will get me the ball. I just have to get in the right spot.”

The Caravan wasn’t in too good a spot after Albers tied it up, but Cosio never lost faith.

“We weren’t nervous,” Cosio said. “We told each other that this is our time, we have to do this, pick your head up.

“The game’s not over. It’s tied; we’re not losing.”

Ultimately, Mount Carmel didn’t lose and now has a chance to make school history.

“This feels awesome because it’s the first time for Mount Carmel and the first time for all of us,” Sergio Valencia said. “It’s a great experience. Hopefully we can take it.”

Meanwhile, Jacksonville will play Benet for third place having already assured itself of the first state trophy in program history.

“We’ve just got to forget about this,” Albers said. “We’re still at state. Not many teams can say that they’re at state, so we’ve just got to forget this game and get a win tomorrow.”

A win would make Jacksonville’s large fan base proud.

“We had four fan busses,” Albers said. “We had over 200 students and with them and the support of the town and to see a sea of red in the bleachers is pretty cool.”Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Sergio Valencia, GK, Mount Carmel.